SUBMITTED BY Timbo

February 24, 2004 — As audiences get ready for what is shaping up to be the most unlikely of blockbusters in the recent memory, USA Today offers a guide to the people and events in the crucifixion of Christ.

Many viewers know only the basic, undisputed story line -- Jesus was crucified. Surveys show that 40% of Americans seldom or never go to church, and although most people have Bibles at home, few read them. Viewers who don't know, or don't accept, Christian beliefs may wonder why there is such a heated debate over the film, which some people fear will provoke misunderstanding if not outright anti-Semitism.

Gibson himself says The Passion of the Christ is not a documentary; it's his vision of Jesus' suffering and dying. He takes dramatic license in flashbacks and other details. For example, a thief who reviles Jesus has his eyeball pecked out by a crow.

The actors speak the languages of ancient Israel -- Latin and Aramaic and Hebrew -- with English subtitles. But the story line and subtitles won't exactly match the biblical texts in most Americans' homes. Gibson had translations done by a Jesuit priest, drawing on Bibles in English, Latin and Greek and pulling from all four of the Gospel narratives, plus the writings by a 19th-century mystic nun.

Still, Gibson says, The Passion of the Christ is true to the purpose of the Gospels: to carry the word about Jesus to the world.

Read the primer at the link below.